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Software Engineer, Client Infrastructure

Cursor is hiring a Software Engineer, Client Infrastructure in San Francisco, United States. It pays $140k-$225k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Cursor.

Level's read on this job

  • Level rates this software engineer role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
  • Tools and skills the posting cites include Grok, Electron and client infrastructure.
  • Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
  • Level lists 114 other open roles at Cursor.
  • The role was posted within the past week.

AI in this role

Software engineer designing and building core client infrastructure and desktop experience for developer tools.

GrokElectron
client-infrastructuredesktop-applicationsbuild-systemsperformance-optimizationobservability

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today, SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary and expanding consciousness to the stars.

SpaceXSI is building Super Intelligence to help humanity understand the universe. Our teams are building the full Super Intelligence stack: from our Colossus supercomputers, to Grok models, to our suite of applications, including Grok Bot, Grok Build, Grok Imagine, Grok Voice, and X. We're creating a powerful flywheel where more compute trains better models, better models power more useful products, and what we learn from people using those products shapes what we build next.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER, CLIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

As an Engineer on the Client Infrastructure team at SpaceXSI, you'll design and build the systems that make our desktop experience performant and stable for millions of developers. You'll work across the core architecture of the Cursor client, from build and distribution systems to performance instrumentation and shared abstractions that other teams rely on. The work is deeply technical and central to the company's success. Developers expect near-perfect performance and reliability from their trusted tools; your work will make that possible.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Build core client infrastructure: shared abstractions, build systems, and observability foundations

  • Improve reliability and performance: eliminating memory leaks, crashes, and frame-time inconsistencies

  • Design instrumentation and telemetry systems for profiling, structured logging, and performance measurement

  • Partner with product teams to unlock faster release velocity, shipping updates to users daily

  • Evaluate Electron vs. native approaches for critical code paths, guiding architectural tradeoffs

  • Build internal tooling that enables other engineers to ship safely and quickly on the client platform

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Experience building or contributing to high-performance desktop applications (Electron-based or native)

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or scientific discipline; OR 2+ years of professional experience building software in lieu of a degree

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Deep experience in client infrastructure, build systems, performance, distribution, or observability

  • Experience building or contributing to high-performance desktop applications, whether Electron-based or native

  • Care deeply about performance, reliability, and developer experience, and have an eye for elegant systems design

  • Thrive in environments that are fast-moving, collaborative, and product-focused

  • Excited to push the limits of what's possible in AI-driven developer tools

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach out to schedule 2-3 short technicals. After, we'll schedule an onsite in our office, where you'll work on a small project, discuss ideas, and meet the team

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

The annual compensation range for this role is listed below.

Annual Salary:

$140,000 - $225,000 USD

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at SpaceXSI, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.

How we rate this

Software Engineer, Client Infrastructure at Cursor rates 30 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

  1. ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
  2. ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
  3. ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
  4. ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Client InfrastructureDesktop ApplicationsBuild SystemsPerformance OptimizationObservabilityGrokElectron

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Pay

This job starts at
$140k
Typical software engineer job
$167k

This posting starts 16% below the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

  1. Tell me about a project where client infrastructure was part of your work. What did you do?
  2. Tell me about a project where desktop applications was part of your work. What did you do?
  3. Tell me about a project where build systems was part of your work. What did you do?
  4. Tell me about a project where performance optimization was part of your work. What did you do?
  5. Tell me about a project where observability was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

  • List these exact terms on your resume: Client Infrastructure, Desktop Applications, Build Systems, Performance Optimization, and Observability. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
  • Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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